Originally published: February 3, 2012

They are the stuff of country music song laments, university dorm room moves and bucolic barnyard scenes. They are jeered by the carbon-conscious, the urban commuter and the size-sensitive.

No vehicle has been as romanticized and demonized over time, yet the pickup truck endures, and like bebop jazz, baseball, and bipolar politics, its roots of origin are intertwined with the very history of its place of origin, the United States of America. The first factory-built pickup was based on the Ford Model T and rolled off the Detroit assembly line in 1925, and Ford’s iconic F150 model has been the best-selling vehicle in North America for a quarter century.

It is not an understatement to say the pickup truck is as American as apple pie and mom.

Which made Toyota’s move a little over a decade ago to bring a full-size, V8-powered pickup truck to U.S. soil a bit of an affront to American sensibilities, and on a similar bold scale to the Japanese automaker’s entry into the good 0l’ boy NASCAR race series in 2006. That same year, it should be noted, Toyota won 12 of 25 races in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series en route to the championship title.

But just as the Bubbas of the paved ovals have accepted Toyota stock cars – series’ stalwarts Joe Gibbs Racing and Michael Waltrip Racing will campaign six race-prepared Toyota Camrys this season – North Americans have embraced full-size pickups from the Japanese automaker.

And none more so than the Toyota Tundra, the first model to breach the full-size beach for Toyota back in 1999, with a look, a rumble and a utility that borrowed heavily from the Big Three’s heavy haulers. Shrewdly, Toyota set up a factory in Indiana to build those first Tundras, and in 200 switched all Tundra production to that everything’s-big-here-state, Texas.

Not surprisingly, the Big Three did not take kindly to newcomers rustling their territory, particularly when Toyota announced the name of their new full-size pickup as ‘T150.’ After Ford execs choked on their scrambled eggs reading that one at the Dearborn Country Club, they filed a lawsuit to protect their F150 baby, and Toyota renamed it the Tundra (in my opinion, a far superior truck name, particularly north of the of the 49th).

Which brings us to 2012, and the second generation Tundra, available in three 4×2 models and eight 4×4 models, including the 4×4 Tundra Double Cab SR5 model pictured here. Powered by a 310-horsepower 4.6-litre V8 mated to a 6-speed manumatic gearbox, this Tundra provides excellent hauling power blended with decent fuel economy, and it’s seating for six in the spacious cabin provides great versatility. All Tundras feature a standard auto limited slip differential, and 4×4 models come equipped with a one-touch AWD system, an under body fuel system and transfer case protector plates (in other words, bring on the off-roading!)

This Tundra is also out-of-the-box ready to tow, with a standard Tow Package that includes a heavy duty tow receiver, 4-pin and 7-pin connectors, a supplemental transmission oil cooler and a heavy duty, multi-leaf spring rear suspension with bias-mounted gas shocks (in other words, bring on the payload!)

Inside, the ride and occupant experience is closer to a large sedan than a truck, thanks in large measure to the advanced suspension system and laundry list of creature comfort features, many of them standard.

But make no mistake: the Tundra is designed and made to compete with the Big Three big boys, and to give working men and woman the largest and most reliable tool in their tool box. To Toyota’s credit, it continues to do just that.